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Shockwave likes China
Beijing Bicycle horns echo through the air amidst the ebb and flow of people making their way around this megalopolis of some 20 million people. Neon lights flash from platforms atop skyscrapers in the financial district in a display of modernity curiously at odds with the heart of the city, centered and focused on the 95 acres of Tiananmen Square and the ancient glory of the Forbidden City, once home to the Chinese Emperors. Fantastically coiled dragons glare down from the palace wall, the many-tiered black roof of an imperial pagoda rising up behind it. Contents: Great Wall of China Red Pagoda Obvious exits: East leads to P'yongyang. West leads to Datong Coal Mines. "Welcome!" The military exhibition isn't nearly as festive as the previous festival- but then again, it doesn't have to be. They've picked a stretch of cleared-out farmland outside of Beijing- and they've subsequently invited every news agency in the hemisphere to come see! There's practically a regiment of stern eyed security guards present- but then again, what might be more impressive is the handful of Red-Star-Emblazoned robots towering over the proceedings. "It is my pleasure," the General at the podium says, "To introduce the newest recruits to the People's Army!" James Bailey has arrived. Exo-Suit ARES has arrived. Sam drops Exo-Suit ARES . Sam has left. Sam enters the Exo-Suit ARES . Americon has arrived. James Bailey stands with some of the other onlookers in what passes for low-profile attire. Instead of his normal Exo-Jet, a hovertank is parked amidst the press vehicles, military markings concealed and any obvious weapons removed. The disguise is only helped by the fact the tank is no bigger in size than the average car. James is working the crowd, trying to learn what other people here know about the exhibitionand the new recruits. Jayson Redfield can be subtle. Really. And this is one of those times when subtly is called for. At the moment he is in his usual civilian attire, minus the EDC jacket that he tends to wear, with his goggles hanging around his neck. The only reason he's drawing any attention is that he's clearly not Asian, much less Chinese, and if anyone asks he passes himself off as a French tourist. It's one of the benefits of speaking French, you know. At this time, like James (who he is near), he is trying to gather information, and slowly he's gathering what he needs. Just as the hoards of media had assembled on this patch of Beijing farmland, the Autobots and likely Decepticons had heard about the upcoming 'demonstration' over Earth's media outlets. Save for MTV of course since they couldn't interrupt THE HILLS for such measley news flashes. "Alright, time to take a chill pill and check out what's crackin' around here," emits Jazz as he approaches the area in his awesomely-painted race car colors. In order to save himself some valuable concealment, the Autobot has circled around the press area with a wide berth to stay out of their shutters' sights. Rodimus Prime had given the Special Ops Commander orders and he planned to carry them out as best he could. "Looks like it's a go for the J-Team." And with that, Jazz slips under a huge pile of hay that a few cows are milling around. They'd run, but they're too busy chewing down on dinner at the moment, which is just fine by the Autobot. Wiping enough hay out of the way, the blue-visored Bot leaves himself a small viewing window of what's to come. It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it. Combat: Jazz slips into the shadows and out of sight... From Exo-Suit ARES , Sam is somewhere relatively nearby, just over the next hill, in a mostly powered-down exo-suit monitoring whatever nifty spyware might be attached to Jayson or James or their tank. Maybe a webcam. He must be the extraction team/backup in case something seriously Goes Wrong. Shockwave, with no need for a microphone, addresses the crowds directly in his own voice amplified several times over. His speech is delivered in cleanly accented Mandarin, and consequently is not understandable to most of the visitors, but the Chinese citizens assembled cheer and applaud enthusiastically. He goes on for about five minutes, his tone is typically calm and humble, and when he gives up the podium the words 'Grimlock' and 'Dinobot' can be made out within the Chinese. Grimlock looks over at Shockwave for a moment, and gives a grunt. "Hn. Whut you say?" Yeah, he might need to get his universal translator tweaked with. Regardless, the General nods and applauds politely for a few moments, and then hmms, turning to the cameras and crowd once again. "To be honest, I am a man of few words- and besides, I think it would be better for our new recruits to introduce themselves, and each give a demonstration of their amazing power!" At this, Grimlock draws himself up a little straighter, but then nods over at the Decepticons. "You guys go first. Me Grimlock no want make you look bad." Jayson Redfield happens to be wearing a thin jacket. Inside that jacket is a hidden gun, which he suspects that he will need soon. He glances to Shockwave as the Decepticon speaks in Mandarin, and not being fluent in any dialect of Chinese, he is unable to comprehend the speech, though he does catch the words "Grimlock" and "Dinobot", giving him a vague idea of what Shockwave is saying. Jayson's gaze shifts to Grimlock, and he frowns slightly; is he going to have to fight an Autobot again? Robotic Bald Eagle is currently in his bird mode, painted red... and wearing one of those olive-green Chinese military uniforms. And yes, it's been tailored for a bird. He's perched stiffly atop Shockwave's shoulder, looking stern and determined, the very model of a patriotic robotic communist bald eagle. From Exo-Suit ARES , Sam watches his suit display the video feed on its HUD. He frowns a little at the angle, but isn't really in a position to do anything to fix it. Coldwar has arrived. As the Cybertronians babble away to the sounds of one language Jazz hasn't learned yet, the hidden Autobot taps at his helm, zooming in on the scene with his temporarily-dimmed visor. "Looks like Grimlock and the Con Crew are still homies. Wonder what that bozo in the general's outfit is up to." For a second, Jazz thinks he spots some sort of circular object attached to the side of one of Grimlock's powerful legs, but then he loses it as a Chinese news photographer gets in the way. "Come on man...you're hurtin' my game man." Windshear stands there quietly, clean and polished with a new paint job. Its his usual colors but instead of Con brands his wings are emblazened with the Red Star of china. He stands at relaxed attention, arems at his sides, fists drawn and both arm blades fully extended, polished and shining. James Bailey moves through the assembled people until he winds up next to Jayson. "No luck with questioning the audience," he whispers in a low voice. "Most of them don't know any more about what's going on then we do. And the ones that do know more started getting a little suspicious." He glances up at the Transformers, gaze lingering on those that are normally Autobots. "You pick up anything by watching the main event?" Coldwar had heard that there were some strange happenings in the area designated grid Iota... This place that the Earthers called 'China'. The Soldier had heard the Decepticon leader loud and clear, and when Galvatron demands results, results are what he must have. Sweeping in close to the ground for miles upon miles, the HV-911 UAV had done its best to avoid detection from any foreign radar sources, though the closer he came to Beijing the more difficult staying low became. Luckily, the signal was almost upon him... Clear as day, those were Cybertronians he spotted as his advanced scouting eye set to ultra-zoom. "Some kind of demonstration," Jayson tells James. "Though I'm not sure what kind, other than it has to do with the Transformers' power. I have a feeling things are about to get messy." But he could be wrong! Shockwave gestures towards the side of the stage in order to draw the audience's attention to it. From behind a curtain march exactly ninety-six young Chinese women, all looking to be between the ages of fourteen and about nineteen. They're uniformed in red and grey military costume, and each wears a small hexagonal purple badge with a gold circle inside it at the throat. As they file onto the stage they line up in front of Shockwave and begin to sing an anthem, a traditional Chinese farming song. Shockwave addresses the crowd in another short speech in precise Mandarin, but follows it this time by repeating it in English. "The sage teaches us that to be able to practice five things everywhere and at all times constitutes perfect virtue. These five things are gravity, generosity, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. He also instructs that the superior man does not set his mind either for nor against anything. Rather, he follows a path of righteousness independent of what would most directly benefit himself; in this way all his state benefits, and every clan therein. In this spirit my first gift to the Celestial Kingdom is as follows: I have created a foundation, the Little Sisters of Virtue, from the population of willing female orphans who are strong in limb and firm in mind, but otherwise unemployed. I will educate them in right thought and right action, and they will proceed from my school into the countryside to guide and educate the untutored and confused. A network of order and justice will flow forth from this core of virtue, and all the people will be enriched, both in spirit and in mind; the two must be elevated together. For is it not also said, that when a man's knowledge has attained him some goal which his virtue is not sufficient to hold, all he has labored for will be lost? This is only the beginning of my work, but I must begin with the humble and the lowly, because the work which seems lowest is in fact the most high." Robotic Bald Eagle suddenly alights from Shockwave's shoulder, and swoops over the crowd! He then does something very odd--he plucks a child right out of the audience! Oh no! And yet, none of the soldiers appear alarmed by this! It must be part of the presentation! Anyway, Americon takes this kid hundreds of feet up into the air--then he lets him go! The poor kid's screaming his head off, but Americon is following him down, doing lazy circles in the air. The Sisters' song ends at precisely the same time as Shockwave's translation of his speech, and is punctuated with a low thumping sound as firework mortars are launched from behind the stage. Each of the Sisters unlimbers a rifle with a translucent, hexagonal plastic barrel from behind her back. Together they take aim, and together they fire, with a deep thrumming sound. There is no visible discharge, but the launched firework shells floating down on their parachutes glow briefly and then burst into red, yellow and violet incandescent blooms. Grimlock stares at Shockwave for a few moments. While the crowd applauds heartily- Grimlock seems unimpressed. "Hn. That boring." But then, Americon drops the child! And Grimlock grunts, taking a massive step forward- attempting to catch the kid- but Grimlock is big and slow, and Gravity is, uh...fast. Oh no! Meanwhile, the crowd gasps, a low murmur going through the crowd- and, of course, the cameras turn upward, perhaps to catch a tragedy in motion? James Bailey begins pushing his way through the crowd, trying to force his way to where the child is going to land. Even as he shoves and elbows people aside his expression shows hints of frustration - even James can see it's unlikely he'll get there before the child hits the ground. Jayson Redfield stares in horror as Americon snatches the child and then drops him. The second that he *is* dropped, however, he begins to move as best he can through the crowd, just as James is doing, but also like James, he doubts that he can do anything about it. But that's never stopped him from trying. From Exo-Suit ARES , Sam winces at the video feed, even more unable to do anything than anyone else, since he's not really that close and his suit is mostly off. The kid is just five feet from the ground then--SNATCH! Americon plucks the kid back right from out of mid-air and safely deposits him back on the ground. As he flies away, Chinese media propaganda boasts that this is proof that the Chinese robots will not harm citizens of the country, nor allow them to come to harm. However, the kid will be traumatized for the rest of his life thanks to this stunt--and that would be seven days, incidentally. Throngs of humans litter the area. That was no surprise, this was a major city of theirs... The Cybertronians, theirs was the lot that would undoubtedly be the focal point of his surveillance. The Autobot presence, that came as absolutely no surprise. It was only fitting that they would ally themselves with the humans here to gain some form of tactical advantage... But what were these Decepticons doing? Turning their back on the cause for what? For the humans of grid Epsilon? It made even less sense than their apparent kinship with the Autobots of the region... The Eagle Eye moved closer, nearly hugging the ground where the cityscape was abandoned thanks to the 'presentation' afar. Windshear listens to Shockwave and then watched as Americon and Grimlock did their performance. When all is done the Seeker suddenly motions to a soldier to move away from the armored vehicle he was standing by. The chinese soldier moves aside and Windshear walks toward the vehicle. He pauses fractionally to make sure he has a good part of the crowds attention and then literally slices the vehicle in two straight down the middle (think something like sideswipe in TF2) with his right arm blade. He steps back at the vehicle halves fall to the side and over and then raises his left arm and fires a scorching red thick laser beam out of his arm cannon at the passenger side piece. That half of the vehicle glows and melts into a pile of slag as all rubber and other non metal component burn and smolder. Than just as casually he resumes the position he held on 'display' watching the crowds reaction to his display of destruction. The scene flashing across Jazz's visor seemed to be moving smoothly and that just meant everything was about to be blown wide open by some plot-thickening reveal. Perhaps the Chinese kid descending down to the ground was just the first of things to come. "Uh oh..." mutters the Autobot as he watches helplessly, unable to assist for fear of blowing his cover. And then Jazz breathes an artificial sigh of relief as Americon catches the falling kid. "Freakin' Con. I'm gonna show him a lesson one day." Just then, the hidden Autobot takes notice of Windshear playing slice and dice with a few defenseless vehicles. "Woah, the chop shop is open. He'd be pretty good in a sushi bar with those blades." As a few cows approach the mound of fresh hay, Jazz tries to adjust himself so his robot form isn't revealed. "Pesky cows! Don't ya gotta be hangin' some EAT MORE CHIKIN signs somewhere or something!" James Bailey relaxes a bit as the child is 'rescued' by Americon, turning back to give an apologetic shrug to the line of people he shoved and pushed to make it this far. Then he begins moving to the front of the crowd, towards podium and the robots that are the stars of this exhibition. He finds the going even harder this time, since he's not so liberal with his use of elbows and palms, and the people who've got good seats up front actually want to keep their places. "Hm. That betterer." Grimlock says- either to Shockwave's display of fireworks, or to the fact that Americon has snared the child from certain doom! Meanwhile, Grimlock grunts. "Hnn. Me turn!" he declares- and at that, a single Chinese soldier marches out into the middle of the field, coming to a halt...at which point, with methodical military precision, he...takes a cigarette out of its pack and places it between his lips, unlit. And then Grimlock tromps over, bringing out his Energo Sword with a *schwing!* Just to demonstrate, Grimlock snares a nearby I-beam with his free hand, and demonstrates the choppiness of his sword, bisecting the beam in a single stroke! Bits of molten metal trickle to the ground at the slice, testifying to the heat of the weapon- And then, this shown, Grimlock tromps over towards the soldier, and brings his sword chopping down at him! Another gasp from the crowd...that is, until Grimlock brings his sword back, revealing the soldier- still stern faced, but perhaps a little paler. His cigarette is lit now, though. A display of power... That's what this looked like. Decepticons playing sideshow freaks for the masses of human onlookers. Shockwave, how could it be...? For millions of years Coldwar had respected him, perhaps above all others, perhaps above even Megatron, perhaps above Galvatron. He and Soundwave were pillars of inspiration for what it meant to be a true Decepticon soldier, but now... Hovering for a moment between two buildings, a sudden strafe to the right just barely brought him out of the street just as a pair of humans marched by. Too close... He was going to have to find a better vantage point, and soon. Jayson Redfield is smaller than James, making it easier for him to slip through the crowd without too much shoving and pushing. He reaches the podium before his superior, ignoring the angry glares and interjections from the people he has passed. Now at the front of the crowd, he peers up at the podium and the people (and mechs) that are behind it. "Bonjour..." For Americon's next act, Chinese soldiers unfurl a big American flag from the top of a building. What's supposed to happen is that Americon is supposed to slash away the American flag and gradually reveal a Chinese building. However, Americon just stares at it for several moments, optics wide as he hovers in mid-air. Shockwave sends the Little Sisters of Virtue off the stage at some private signal before Grimlock becomes too exuberant. They march away in precise lockstep, singing another song about sunlight on water and birds in rice paddies. Grimlock gives a grunt at the apllause from his demonstration- and then he puts his sword away, falling in beside Shockwave again. "Hmmn." he grumbles, peering at Americon. "Hn. What him doing?" he asks, scratching briefly at his helmet. "Him not gonna sing song, am he? Me Grimlock tired of all this singings." From Exo-Suit ARES , Sam frowns in his suit, turning on minimal power -- just a warm-up sequence, really, in preparation for the likelihood that certain individuals are about to do something massively unwise. "I believe he's suffering from a variety of dissonance fugue," Shockwave replies. Grimlock hmm. "That bad?" he asks Shockwave. The most unfortunate pitfall of this terrain so close to the seat of the Cybertronian demonstration, an obstacle difficult to overcome in order to truly gain the most surveillance possible is the lack of tall buildings. Sure, Beijing has its fair share, but construction of such skyscrapers this close to the Forbidden City is, well...for lack of a better word, 'forbidden'. Still, a good soldier makes use of what he has at his disposal, and it just so happens that some buildings are still taller than others. Maneuvering into position behind one of the tallest buildings within the area, Coldwar begins to ascend. A dangerous maneuver, but Galvatron demanded results, and so Coldwar came to a hover just barely high enough for his scoutting eye to peer over the building and onto the square below. Hopefully, and with a little bit of luck on his side he would remain unnoticed. Jayson Redfield resists the urge to finger the gun concealed in his jacket, so instead he plays with the goggles around his neck for a moment, and then...he steps up to the podium. "This is going to stop," he announces loudly and clearly. MOOO....MOOOO...MOOOO If the hungry cows weren't so busy chatting about the decrease in hay quality, Jazz might be able to pick up more of the audio from the ongoing demonstrations. Blowing some air at a nearby cow, the Autobot gets it to saunter a few yards over. "Perfect. Now I really got a better view for snoopin' like Snoop Doggy Dog." Jazz focuses his visor on Grimlock's leg again, noticing a poorly-painted section that looks circular shaped. "That must be one of those friggin' dominator disks. If there was just a way to get a hold of those...hmmm..." Maybe /this/ can help. Is it a super-cool invention? Is it a new stereo? Is it a stealth drone? No. It's a turbo-charged RC car. Popping the little car on the ground, Jazz pulls out a tiny controller for it. "Let's get up close and person with these robots. Do your work ROAD RUMBLER." In the blink of an optic, the little race car speeds away with all the noise of a soft-battery hum. Sometimes, the cheapest things were the best tools for a mission like this. Robotic Bald Eagle , shaking a bit, hovers slowly towards the flag. He clasps the flag with his talons, and tears it away, gradually revealing the Chinese flag underneath. However, despite his compliance, Americon is crying on the inside, and he can't understand why. Meanwhile, Chinese propaganda boasts that with the new robots, the age of America is well and truly over, and the age of China has only begun. James Bailey finally makes his way to the front of the crowd, getting jostled by a few of those nearest to him as well. He gives Jayson a quick look, then nods and steps up next to the youth. "He's right, this must stop...'Age of America'? 'Age of China'? That's backwards thinking, my friends. Yesteryear's thinking." His gaze rests on Americon now. "There is no 'America' any more!" he shouts in a booming voice. Then in a much lower voice he adds, "Just as there's no China. The nations of Earth are United now." "Not... at the moment," Shockwave tells Grimlock. "It may be problematic in the longer term. 'Chinacon' is a creature of habit." Well, this went to pot in a hurry. "Chinacon!" barks the General. "Stand down! You are relieved of your demonstr-" and then, James and Jayson tromp up on stage- and the general just gapes. "Hey, Me Grimlock know thems!" he says, quite helpfully. And that's when about thirty large, stern-looking men in dark security uniforms swarm down towards the two EDC members- and to judge by the batons and handcuffs they're carrying, it's not for anything good, either. "This Demonstration is over!" The General says- and the crowd is none-too-gently herded away- meanwhile, he exchanges a few words in hushed Mandarin with two nearby officers- And some previously unseen technicians unlatch a large case, bringing out some sort of disc-shaped device from it, which they promptly lob at Americon! "Routine maintenance." they explain. You paged Coldwar with 'oh its ok. windys weaps here suck pretty much... hes a long standing TF OC Ive had for years and hes totally gutted here but thats another story... and theres nothing that hes done in previous battles that was cool that can work here.. it all involved fighting other robots... I guess I just wont have him do anything else *shrug*' Robotic Bald Eagle slowly turns about and stares down at James Bailey. The things the human says are a little confusing to him, especially with the fog clouding his mind--CLANK! As another disc is attached to him, the fog fades away. Ah, that's better. "HA! Haven't you heard that Beetles song?" Americon says with a wry eagle grin. "All you need is China!" Jayson Redfield doesn't like the looks of those handcuffs! He's not about to let himself get arrested, especially for something he knows is right. He pulls the gun from his jacket and cocks it, taking a step back while he finds himself surrounded by the Chinese men. This doesn't look good! "Go speed racer go!" calls out Jazz from his hidden-hay locale. As the swarm of military men mix with the large group of media representatives, the Autobot expertly maneuvers the ROAD RUMBLER between a maze of legs toward the side of the broadcast podium. "Hah! This is just like Grand Theft Auto except I'm not beatin' down a thug to steal his El Camino. Aww yea!" After running into the back of a soldier's boot, Jazz hits reverse on his diminutive controller to set the ROAD RUMBLER back on course. Spotting a curious box near the podium, the Autobot moves his RC car closer. "Jackpot!" James Bailey holds out his hand to Jayson. "Take it easy, kid. Maybe it doesn't have to come to that." He runs his gaze across the approaching men, hiding his worry, then turns to the General. "What's the meaning of this?" He calls out, standard EDC operating procedure (for buying time and hopefully triggering plot exposition that is). Coldwar watches the disturbance brought by the humans that appear to be similar to those he had seen in grid Epsilon. Foolish, or perhaps impetuous at best-what were they thinking? Their fate did not really matter to the Decepticon Soldier, but the odd disc lobbed and attached to the unit designated Americon was certainly of interest, and even moreso as the once-Decepticon's demeanor suddenly shifted back into that of a traitor. The feed was clear, his scoutting eye recording every detail of the unfolding scene. Galvatron would be pleased... So long as his cover held strong. Windshear stands there and continues to watch the display. Theres not much he can contribute really. His abilities lie most in fighting other robots, not against objects and most certainly not against flesh creatures. His true prowess is in the skies as well but he wont take a chance on doing anything so as not to possibly damage the humans. He shutters a bit at that thought. So much not like him... Instead he just stands there and watches, periodically scanning the area just out of force of habit. Dreadwind came poking around here the day before and something tells him where one TF came, more will follow. So he leaves the showboating to the rest and just stands, guard, more or less. Jayson Redfield just glances to James, and slips the gun back into his jacket. From Exo-Suit ARES , Sam turns his exo-suit to 'on', but doesn't go anywhere just yet. Anyone scanning for power sources might notice a blip. There's a reason you have to say ROAD RUMBLER and not road rumbler. This little RC car was packed with some extra power compliments of some hodge-podge tinkering by Perceptor. Is there anything that guy couldn't do? Oh yea, he can't dance. Jazz can and he can also drive a remote-controlled car pretty well. Popping the ROAD RUMBLER up against the cardboard box, he's able to flip it on its side and onto the top of the little car. "Score!" smiles Jazz. A second later, the softly-humming car wheels away from the scene of the crime. If Jazz could manage to weave the car through the masses of people, he might end up with something worthwhile from the mission. "The MEANING," the General says, "Is you are under arrest! Now surrender your weapons. You are in violation of no less than a dozen Chinese laws. You will be deported -immediately.- Or-" The General gives a nod to Grimlock- who promptly brings his double-barreled laser blaster out with a *KA CHUNK!*- and it's pointed right at the two brazen EDC pilots! "-things may...escalate." Meanwhile, Jazz's ROAD RUMBLER easily goes unmissed throughout the chaos- as does Coldwar's recordings! The crowd's moving out as fast as they can now- some soldiers even blocking the lenses of the TV news cameras- my, this turned into a fiasco quickly! Blame Americon. "I regret to inform you that your United Nations is a paper tiger," Shockwave declares. "It wastes countless treasures on ineffectual boondoggles like your unnecessarily enormous yet completely idle aircraft carrier, sprawling military bases on the soil of its favored nation, specifically the United States of America, and even military bases on other planets and moons which are first neglected, then abandoned and forgotten at the first sign of inconvenience." Shockwave levels a finger at the EDC men accusingly. "The EDC displays, at all times, a shocking and shameful degree of incompetence, spending its funds and resources to equip felons, deserters, traitors and wayward underage deviants of questionable moral fiber with the most advanced, yet somehow not actually effective, equipment possible, then continually re-equips those same persons when that equipment is wasted. "While all this goes on, ninety percent of Earthlings still lack such amenities as land-line telephony and running water. China refutes the United Nations. We refute the EDC. You have no mandate here. You are a shame upon all your race." Exo-Suit ARES moves up to the top of the nearest hill, pauses for two seconds while the pilot takes a couple deep breaths, then launches toward the demonstration grounds. Robotic Bald Eagle lands on the ground near Jayson and James Bailey. "And also, I've been to your house, JAYSON," Americon says, "And it's not that great! I mean, seriously, pick up your underwear once in a while. Don't just leave the place in a dump. Come on." He looks at James, next. "Haven't been to your house yet... but it's PROBABLY REALLY MESSY AS WELL." Shockwave throws out a hand to indicate the sweep of Beijing's skyline. "Your wasteful, useless 'elite' force of misfits and children could not stop us from taking this nation by force, if we so chose. It could not even stop me, alone, from doing so. You rely entirely upon the largesse of the Autobots who pity you, because you are weak, and they side always with the weak. But where you are fractious, China is one. Where you are weak, China will be strong. We will make it strong. We will succeed where you have failed." "Surely *you* are in violation of more laws than we are," Jayson retorts. "You're the ones brainwashing Transformers!" He turns a glare on Shockwave, and then on Americon. "You shut up!" Bold words coming from a Decepticon who abandons his comrades to side with humans, and Autobots alike... But then again, those discs, they seemed to be attached to all of the Cybertronians serving the inhabitants of grid Iota. Surely, this was no mere coincidence. Coldwar was almost certain that he had unlocked the mystery of the traitorous behavior on the part of the former Decepticon soldiers. It seems that the one called Hi-Test was wise to mention the device in his report after all. "You are the unwelcome guest here, Earthling pupa," Shockwave replies firmly. "You trespass on sovereign soil at China's gracious invitation. That invitation has been retracted. Unless you wish to take up arms against your fellow Earthlings, and wear the mantle of the terrorist and the unhinged imperialist, I advise that you obey the General. He is your generous host." James Bailey frowns at the General. "You're the ones who invited us, and you accuse us of breaking your laws? Which ones?" Wait a second, did they actually get an invitation? Hmm, hard to remember at this moment. James points at Americon, Windshear and then at Shockwave. "I shouldn't have to remind you what happened the last time Terran nations left the UN and had Decepticons working for them. Their Decepticon 'allies' nearly flattened the biggest city of their biggest 'allies'. It's right in Korea, not too far from here. And they're still repairing the damages!" Slowly but surely, the ROAD RUMBLER pops out of the swarm of people and zooms back towards Jazz's position. As the loyal RC car approaches the pow-wow of hungry cows, it zips between a few animal legs and clangs off a farmer's bucket before finally slowing up in front of Jazz. "You're the Bomb -DOT- Com my little ROAD RUMBLAH'! You're the best present I ever got, well besides that Van Halen 'Greatest Hits' album. Anyway...let's see what ya brought poppa." Throwing the vehicle back into subspace, the Special Ops guru examines the contents of the cardboard box with a huge, metallic grin. "Finders keepers, losers weepers. Hah!" After throwing the aquired goods into subspace, Jazz would leave at this point, but it looks like things are certainly heating up. For now, he decides to stay and wait for anything else. Robotic Bald Eagle caws loudly, attempting to drown out the inconvenient facts. "Blah blah, P'yongyang is fine! Why, I was just over there lately, and boy, I thought I was in New York for a moment, there! And that's also when I broke into Jayson's house and scattered his underwear everywhere." "Regardless." The General says, nodding at Jayson's pistol- "You are the ones who drew arms first. It is worth noting, however- our weapons are superior." At that Grimlock grunts, flicking the fire-selector switch on his double-barreled laser blaster to 'Lots' with a very loud *CLICK!* The security guards take a step back in anticipation. Meanwhile, the General looks up- noting Sam's exo suit. "Shockwave, Windshear- if that EDC suit attempts to interfere, destroy it!" the General commands. This said, he looks back to Jayson and James. "Now. Shall you stand down? Or do you wish to be a more...practical demonstration of our new comerades' strength?" Windshear nods at the Generals orders and remains watching the situation that has evolved with the EDC. He doesnt like the EDC, they dont like him so its all good. He brings his weapons online and just waits for the wrong move to happen. "While Mexico, believing the United Nation's flimsy blandishments and trusting in the 'Earth Defense' forces to save them, fared no better. At this very hour Mexico sweats under a Decepticon whip. The only difference is that Korea did not have to pay a tithe to you." Shockwave's chest glows brightly with filtered Cerenkov radiation as he spins up his reactor to military power. "I will melt it into a glowing pool of liquid if that is necessary. I hope, however, that violence can be averted through an appeal to reason." Jayson Redfield snorts. "Fine. I surrender. But don't think this is the last you'll see of the EDC, you mind-controlling bastards." He holds up his hands to show that he holds no weapons other than the gun in his jacket. "Is that a threat?" demands Shockwave. "Are you, a privileged American child, threatening the Chinese government on the behalf of the United Nations? Bear in mind, this is being recorded." Grimlock grunts, and nudges Shockwave. "Hn. No listen to him. Him stupids. Not smart like me Grimlock!" James Bailey takes one of Jayson's arms and pulls it down to his side. "Look, we have no desire to start some sort of international incident here. If you want us to leave, we'll leave. But I still don't see what was the point of this little demonstration? Besides making it clear that you've got your Cybertonian slaves here firmly under your control. If that's all you wanted to show us, then you had enough representatives from the media here already. And we're more than willing to report back to the other nations. Unless there's something else...?" He shoots a glance towards the remains of the flag Americon shredded earlier. Power struggles and politics... Useless banter was not what he had traveled to grid Iota for. No, what he had come for he had found, and with almost zero effort. Not all victories were hard won, it seems. Descending back toward the ground, as people returned to the streets that had been all but completely abandoned upon his arrival it was made abundantly clear that now would be the best time to make a graceful advance to the rear. Slowly, steadily, the HV-911 Bell Eagle Eye began to pull away from the scene through the temporarily still plausible cover of the city streets. Exo-Suit ARES stays up in the air, pretty ludicrously aiming its cannon at the stage, but holding off on the trigger. The external speaker cuts on. "This is how you governed Cybertron, Shockwave? How many cycles?" asks the pilot. Robotic Bald Eagle glares angrily at Jayson for a moment. Then... abruptly... he yells, "OH NO HE HAS A GUN!" And he transforms into robot mode--shredding his uniform, which isn't the transforming model, it seems--and dives at Jayson Redfield to pin him to the ground. Americon undergoes a patriotic transformation into his All-American robot mode! Combat: Americon strikes Jayson Redfield with his OH NO HE HAS A GUN (Grab) attack! If Grimlock was alongside Jazz, right about now would be the time the Dinobot would come roaring out of the hay with his electro-sword blazing. However, the blue-visored Bot knew better than to add more fuel to the fire, especially when he already had some prized posessions to return to base. "This stinks like Police Academy without Steve Guttenberg! And I can't do a blast thing about i...WAIT A MINUTE!" Slinking out of the coverage of farm hay, Jazz drops down into his Porsche mode and activates his speakers. Popping up a fresh audio track into the playlist, he pops his doors open, still laying out of the direct line of sight of what's going on. Suddenly, an Earth-thumping sound resonates from near the farm house and the stack of hay. *RRRRRAATTATTTA* *RRATTTAATTT* Heavy machine gun fire files the air as a voice comes over the loudspeaker, "HEYY!! UHH GEENERAL *COUGHWHATSHISNAME* WE'VE GOT INTRUDERS ON THE SOUTH RIDDGGE!!" The voice doesn't exactly have the purest of Chinese accents, but hey, with all the explosions and gun-fire sounding out who cares? Jayson Redfield yelps in alarm as he is tackled and pinned. "Get off me, you bird brain!" he demands, struggling against the much heavier Americon. "I dutifully retained control of Cybertron for millions of years," Shockwave responds evenly to Baily. "Apart from periodic fuel and materials raids from the few armed and active Autobots remaining behind, we had an almost perfect order for longer than your species has walked on its hind legs. To put it into biological terms you will understand, your governments are as eyeblinks by comparison. Your United Nations, a flicker of a strobe. Your United States, the duration of a snap of the fingers. Most of your regimes have held control for less than a few paltry human generations. As a species you are self-destructive, wanton, and stupid in the extreme. But a few cultures stand out as possessing the stability, personality and philosophy to endure and thrive. "Persia. Egypt. Sumeria. Babylon. China. Only one survives. The others are lost to antiquity, inherited by scrabbling savages enslaved by imperialists. Only China remains to represent the spirit of what could be greatness among your species. Your defiant adolescent mewling does not become you. You should be in silent awe of what your betters accomplished, greater than you and a thousand years before your birth." Well, this got even worse. "We're under attack!" The General says, swearing. "Quickly, metal warriors- to the South Ridge!" And thus, Grimlock nods- perhaps eager to find a REAL opponent as he charges off- grabbing at Americon (but not Jayson) to drag him along as well! "Me Grimlock CRUSH, uh, whoever on ridge thingie! Wuz boring thing anyway!" Grim pauses, and looks over at Shockwave. "You done talkings yet?" he says, exasperated- but then takes to the air, heading southward! And in the chaos, the General himself takes off- and the brave EDC members may have their chance to escape! Windshear transforms and follows Grimlock to the South Ridge. Americon has already switched tracks to murdering whatever's on the South Ridge. "RRAAAHHHH! LEMME AT 'EM!" he screams, flailiing his limbs about as he dangles from Grimlock's fist. "We will destroy them all... IN CHINA!" Pretty boy Windshear transforms into a Cybertronian pyramid/Tetrajet. Jayson Redfield practically jumps to his feet once Americon is off him. At that point, he grabs James by the arm while everyone is distract. "C'mon, let's beat it!" Shockwave's ponderous lecturing could probably go on as long as it took, constructing an edifice of logic the way he builds infrastructure. But wait! There's direct action to be taken. "I will identify the nature of the threat," he tells the General, antennae extending slightly as he sweeps the horizon with penetrating radiation, exposing what is... and isn't... there. Combat: Shockwave initiates a radar sweep of the area. Combat: Jazz has been found! From Exo-Suit ARES , Sam turns slightly to look in the direction of the racket, then looks back to Shockwave, dipping his suit down toward the ground to get between James and Jayson and the Transformers. "Hm," he responds to Shockwave. "Trade of Cybertron for.. China? Reign of millions of years for thousands. Have lost greatly, fail to realize." He quickly glances back to make sure James and Jayson are booking it. James Bailey gives Jayson a quick nod and then takes off after him. "Right behind you, kid." "Your nation has been invaded by the Autobot saboteur, codename: Jazz," Shockwave explains to the General, striding alongside his jeep. "He is expert in imitating and blending in with xenoforms, adopting their cultural mannerisms and ingratiating himself with them. He has an impressive mastery of both prepared and improvised explosive devices. I do not detect any other threats. Shall I eliminate the saboteur?" Shockwave's eye continues to flicker after he finishes speaking. Maybe he's thinking hard about something. This might just earn Jazz a nomination for best sound in a major motion TP. The Autobot keeps on pumping up the heavy array of weapons fire until he feels the approaching vibration of the Chinabots and Chinacons approaching. Or is he just hearing his awesome sub-woofers thumping away? R*RRAAATTTATT* *BOOOOOM* *RRAAATTATT* Eh, either way it's probably been long enough to cause a distraction for his EDC friends to get away. Dialing down the massive audio emitting from his frame, Jazz revs up his powerful engine. "I think it's time to say SAYONARA...or uh..whatever you guys say around here. I'm OUT!!" Flooring the gas pedal, the white Porsche darts away from the farm house, leaving a heap of flying hay in his wake. A few cows take in the sights. One of them MOO's to other one, "You think I'm gonna miss this to hang those freaking signs? Yea right!" Combat: Jazz begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Exo-Suit ARES , Shockwave, Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet , and Eagle_Eye_UAV Combat: Eagle_Eye_UAV begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Olive and Sand colored Cybertronian Tetrajet Boomslang says, "Get anything good? Oh, belay that reply, I see you already sent it in from the field. Did you find out how they got ahold of those things? I thought that was supposed to be a big secret of Wheeljack's." Coldwar says, "Negative, Sir. There was no evidence indicating the origins of how this technology made it into human hands." Boomslang says, "Mm. I suppose not, not from the air anyhow. So we know what they did. Now we have to find out how they did it and how to stop them from doing it." Coldwar says, "Sir, if I may..." Boomslang says, "Let's hear it."